About Pacific Builders

Pacific Builders Inc. has been crafting extraordinary custom homes since 1982, specializing in unique and complex designs, historic homes and high-end remodels.

Using an artistic approach with unparalleled construction techniques, we have completed more than 100 successful projects, ranging from an Old World, French Chateau-style home to the remodeling of the largest existing adobe residence in Northern California. Embracing the hallmarks of honesty, integrity, fairness and flexibility, our team has developed a reputation for keeping our clients’ needs close to heart, and building the highest quality projects.

Tony Yaconelli

Tony Yaconelli spent several decades as a finish carpenter working on iconic Saratoga and Los Gatos homes. He was raised in the foothills surrounding Saratoga in the 60s and 70s, a time when orchard trees outnumbered houses. He was influenced by his grandfather, a carpenter, who combined skillful artistry with a Depression Era ethos to create beautiful things out of parts and pieces available to him.

In addition to a practical hands-on education, Tony obtained a degree in Architecture with an emphasis on Design and Problem Solving. As a Graduate Teaching Fellow, he documented architecture and inexpensive housing design and construction techniques while traveling nearly a year through Europe and Northern Africa.

One of Tony’s first jobs was building a deck above Los Gatos with a panoramic view of the valley out of a fallen redwood tree from the property. All pieces of the tree were milled on site to create the components of the deck, trellis, and benches. After the project was complete, as Tony sat enjoying the view from a bench he built, he marveled at being part of creating something so elegant from a fallen tree.

To this day, Tony still loves the problem-solving and detail-oriented aspects of the projects he undertakes while collaborating closely with clients, architects, artisans and materials. It’s that satisfaction and sense of wonder that distinguishes Pacific Builders.

Chuck

Chuck (last name)’s basement could be called Geppetto’s Workshop – it is filled with hundreds of beautiful hand and power tools. On 40 acres, he has collected and organized thousands of pieces of reclaimed wood – from these, he creates extraordinary architectural millwork including front doors carved from solid stock to massive beams with intricate decorations.

Rob

Rob worked in a cabinet shop when he was 15 and later as a framer, but hated the idea that his work would be covered. This led him to college classes in woodworking and CNC computer design. He creates incredible 3D renderings of everything imaginable: patterned leaves and lion heads, which are all incorporated into the architectural design.

Bill

Bill was a guitar builder long before he became well-known for fabricating custom doors. Many years ago, we asked him to build a massive front door measuring 9x9’ and 5” thick. There was concern about door warpage over time. “No problem,” Bill said. His solution was to run threaded rods through the door with a slight left/right alternating bow to each rod. Nuts hidden at each end with removable plugs allowed the door to be ‘tuned’ as it warped over time…just like a guitar.

Milo

Milo is from Croatia, a country covered in stone. In his home country, stone is used to make fences, retaining walls, houses, arches, vaults, pathways and roads. Milo uses that knowledge to create incredible countertops from granite, marble and stone. We partnered on a kitchen that was awarded the San Jose Mercury News Kitchen of the Year.

Adam

Adam is from Poland, and like many others from central Europe, he was raised in a country steeped in architectural history and great craftsmanship. Today, he puts that skill to work to create extraordinary hardwood floors – they are works of art. One project consisted of matching and expanding the floor of the oldest standing building at the Presidio in San Francisco, constructed by the U.S. Army in 1857. Work included painstakingly feathering in Douglas fir pieces to the existing floor, carefully sanding, then staining all so that the new floors perfectly matched the 150+ year old floors.

“Our experience with Tony and his crew was exceptional. It was difficult for us to visualize what our property could look like with the old house removed, but we felt very comfortable about moving forward with Pacific Builders when several of our issues were solved by Tony in our initial meeting onsite. He was truly excited about the potential of our home, and that was important to us. During our project, whenever there was an obstacle, it was met with a positive attitude~ solutions were presented and discussed.
The crew was organized and on-time. The job site was kept clean on a daily basis. We agreed upon the payment schedules prior to starting the job, and there were no surprises.

We continue to recommend Pacific Builders for any project, because of their talented crews, exceptional management, and keen eye for detail.”

– M.R.

“We couldn’t be more pleased in our decision to use Tony and his company, Pacific Builders, to build our home. After 16 years, absolutely no problems or cracks, only WOWS every time a new person walks into our home…Not only the most professional General Contractor, but on schedule and on budget…”

– M.J.

“Tony and his team at Pacific Builders came to us very highly recommended and yet they were undersold. We had a flawless construction project thanks to Tony’s incomparable experience and exemplary project management skills. His planning, oversight, communication and troubleshooting abilities kept our build not only "on time and on budget" but made it an outright pleasurable experience. We consider ourselves a highly organized couple and he even kept us on track. He solved problems before we knew they existed. Tony’s team made every effort to keep our neighbors from being disturbed during construction.

Tony has developed relationships with the very best subcontractors; they are master craftsman in their fields. Everything from framing to finish-work is impeccable. We are so very proud to live in the finest of custom built homes. We have received numerous compliments on the high quality work from the Pacific Builders Team. The only disappointing part of the whole experience was seeing it come to an end. We absolutely loved working with Tony.”

– A.S.